Audit: State Medicaid paid $1.3M to ineligibles LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas has paid more than $1.3 million in Medicaid dollars to ineligible recipients since 2009, according to an audit released Friday that a top Republican lawmaker said shows the pressing need to reform the $5 billion health care program for the poor and disabled. But the governor and officials from the Arkansas Department of Human Services, which oversees the state's Medicaid program, said the cases reviewed by leg...

House panel approves whistleblower rewards LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - An Arkansas House panel has approved a measure allowing state employees to receive an award if they expose waste and inefficiencies that lead to savings for the state. The House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs voted Friday to advance a proposal that would amend the state's whistleblower law. Under the bill, if an employee's report leads to savings for the state, the employee could receive 10 percen...

City nearing start of Front Street workDARDANELLE — The city may see its Front Street Enhancement project begin in the near future, and Mayor Carolyn McGee said she is ecstatic about the changes the project will bring to the area and local businesses. Dusty Roads Builders of Russellville was the potential bid winner with the the lowest total bid of $182,391. The highest bid was submitted by Township Builders Inc. of Little Rock, $238,839. McGee said the city must send a letter of a...

Quorum Court votes to fund gas valuation projectThe Pope County Quorum Court unanimously voted to adopt an ordinance to fund a gas valuation project at its monthly meeting Thursday after two representatives from the Total Assessments Solutions Corporation (TASC) presented a plan for the project. In their PowerPoint presentation, Paige Kutait and Hardie Reynolds outlined the plan to locate under-reported Arkansas shale taxable gas well equipment in Pope County and create a new GPS map that d...

City Council, Walmart getting closerBoth Walmart representatives and Russellville City Council members agreed that what started out to be a tension-filled evening ended with a feeling of productive negotiations Thursday night. “It feels like the informal setting will be more productive,” Walmart legal representative Stephen Giles said. Company representatives and city officials met in a meeting described as a round-table discussion where council members could ask direct question...

Senate poised to renew Violence Against Women Act WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators tussled Thursday over whether Indian authorities should be able to prosecute non-Indians in domestic abuse cases, an issue that has delayed passage of legislation to renew the federal government’s main law in the fight against domestic violence. A final vote on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act is now scheduled for Monday. The 1994 act expired in 2011, but reauthorization was blocked last year by differenc...

Brennan defends drone strikes, even on Americans WASHINGTON (AP) — CIA Director-designate John Brennan strongly defended anti-terror attacks by unmanned drones Thursday under close questioning at a protest-disrupted confirmation hearing. On a second controversial topic, he said that after years of reading classified intelligence reports he still does not know if waterboarding has yielded useful information. Despite what he called a public misimpression, Brennan told the Senate Intelligence C...

Military looks to place quick forces after Libya WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military is determined to position small, quick reaction forces closer to global crises after the rapid assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya last September kept U.S. armed forces from responding in time to save four Americans. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress on Thursday that they moved quickly to deploy commando teams fro...

NTSB: 787 battery approval should be reconsidered WASHINGTON (AP) — The government should reassess its safety approval of the Boeing 787’s lithium ion batteries, the nation’s top accident investigator said Thursday, casting doubt on whether the airliner’s troubles can be remedied quickly. If Boeing is forced to switch to a different type of battery, it would add weight to the plane — and fuel efficiency is one of the 787’s main selling points. The aircraft maker did get some good news Thursda...

Obama rallies Democrats, scorns GOP fiscal plans LEESBURG, Va. (AP) — Assertive even as he preached humility, President Barack Obama vowed to confront Republicans on the deficit and urged Democrats on Thursday to stick with him on guns and immigration. He scorned a GOP plan to avoid imminent across-the-board spending cuts, declaring flatly “we’re on the right side of this argument.” In an address meant to motivate House Democrats during their annual retreat, Obama cast his overarching agenda...

Immigrants’ children more Democratic than parents WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S.-born children of Hispanic immigrants are more likely than their parents to identify themselves as Democrats as they integrate into American life, maintaining strong ties to their cultural heritage while casting themselves as liberal on social issues. A wide-ranging study released Thursday by the Pew Research Center lays bare some of the difficulties for the Republican Party following elections last November, when Preside...

White House allies produce preschool-for-all plan WASHINGTON (AP) — Days before President Barack Obama outlines his agenda for the coming year, a think tank with close ties to the White House is outlining a plan that would provide preschool for all children within five years. The Center for American Progress proposal, released Thursday, provides a road map for how the Obama administration could move forward with pre-kindergarten programs for all 3- and 4-year-olds. For families with younger c...

Panetta warns of ’crisis’ in military readiness WASHINGTON (AP) — Looming across-the-board budget cuts present the U.S. military with the most significant readiness crisis in more than a decade and quick action is needed to avoid the spending reductions, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned during testimony Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. If the billions of dollars in cuts are allowed to stand, Panetta said, he would have to throw the country’s national defense strateg...

Menendez says he called government in way to help donor WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Robert Menendez acknowledged Thursday that his office contacted U.S. health agencies in a way that would help the biggest political donor to his re-election, the same eye doctor whose private jet Menendez used for two personal trips to the Dominican Republic. The senator denied to The Associated Press that he sought to intervene improperly in billing disputes between the doctor and the government. Menendez, D-N.J., said ...

Beebe says he will OK abortion coverage ban LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Gov. Mike Beebe says he will sign into a law legislation that would ban coverage of most abortions in a health insurance exchange. The Senate, on a 25-9 vote Thursday, gave final approval to a bill that would ban abortion coverage in an insurance exchange being created under a new federal health care law. Beebe said after the vote that he believes the measure merely restates existing law on whether public money can be ...

Ark. Senate approves abortion coverage ban LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The Arkansas Senate has passed a bill to ban insurers participating in an exchange created under the federal health care law from covering abortions. The Senate voted 25-9 Thursday for the bill to ban abortion coverage in the exchange, with exemptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. The House has already passed the bill and it now goes to Gov. Mike Beebe. The bill allows abortion coverage through s...

Senate approves changes in death penalty law LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The state Senate has approved a bill that its sponsors claim will overcome the state Supreme Court's concerns about how Arkansas executes prisoners. On a 33-0 vote, senators approved revisions to the state's injection procedures, including naming a chemical to be used. A 2009 law let the Correction Department director pick the drug. Justices threw out the law last year, saying the state constitution required the Legisl...

Lawmakers to get classified drone info WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has directed the Justice Department to give Congress’ intelligence committees access to classified legal advice providing the government’s rationale for drone strikes against American citizens working with al-Qaida abroad, a senior administration official and Democratic lawmakers said Wednesday. A drumbeat of demands to see the document has swelled on Capitol Hill in recent days as the Senate Intelligen...

US to cut carrier fleet in Persian Gulf to 1 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is cutting its aircraft carrier presence in the Persian Gulf region from two carriers to one, the Defense Department said Wednesday, in a move that represents one of the most significant effects of budget cuts on the U.S. military presence overseas. The decision comes as Washington struggles to find a way to avoid sharp automatic spending cuts set to strike the Pentagon and domestic programs next month. Defense S...

AP sources: House Democrats offer own gun control plan WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats will unveil 15 proposals for curbing gun violence that resemble President Barack Obama’s plan and will include a call for banning assault weapons, people familiar with the package said Wednesday. The Democrats’ recommendations will also include barring high-capacity magazines carrying more than 10 rounds of ammunition, requiring background checks for all gun sales and prohibiting gun trafficking, all of which ...